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About Our Association

Get To Know Us

The American Chuck Wagon Association started out as a small group of Old West enthusiasts and has expanded to world wide association preserving the American past through competitions, demonstrations, charity and school events and other venues.

Our work is funded by donations, honorariums and memorials; cookbook, note card & cap sales, as well as membership dues.

Youth & the ACWA

In the ACWA, the youth have just as much fun as the adults!
The American Chuck Wagon Association offers competitive cook offs for youth and encourage their participation in the cook-offs.
Kudos to the Saints Roost Museum crew for continuing the invitation to area schools to come on Friday. There were busloads coming and going a good portion of the day. The students were wonderful and the three host wagons enjoyed sharing their camps and telling them a little about the history. Thank you to all those Clarendon area folks for a great event.
To further encourage youth participation, the association periodically honors a young cook with the Rookie of the Year award. In 2012 Drake Tolbert was chosen for that award.
In addition, the ACWA offers a scholarship to selected individuals each year. For the 2012-2013 school year, ACWA was proud to award 2 scholarships. Information to be posted soon.
The second scholarship benefit auction was held at the Clarendon, Texas cookoff. All proceeds go directly to the scholarship fund. A huge THANK YOU to the Saints roost Museum volunteers, those who donated items, the buyers and the auction crew for another successful event.

General Store

Want to take home some of that authentic, Old West taste and style? Now you can with ACWA Cookbooks, beautiful note cards and caps!

Chuck Wagon Catering

Many of our members offer catering services. Contact one of them to bring some of the finest chuck wagon cooking to your next event.

ACWA News & Events

• President's Message

  How many of you used to play like you were cowboys and Indians when you were young, or at least pretend to be one of the heroes in the classic westerns of yesteryear? There was, and still is, a mystique about that era that we held very dear to our hearts. We still, today, hold that spirit of the western heritage in high esteem and want others to experience that same feeling.
  We have banded together with a common goal to preserve and share with others the western heritage that the pioneers of the day helped to create. The chuck wagon is the central element used by the chuck wagon cook to focus on the spirit of the Old West and as each day that goes by the vehicles grow older and closer to extinction. We have chosen to preserve them and the way of life that surrounds this noble vehicle.
  The chuck wagon cook-offs are by no means the only way we try to portray that cowboy spirit. We have many members who gather together at locations around the country and cooking the old chuck wagon way for our service men and women and their families. There are also ACWA individuals who provide wagons and cook for the Wounded Warriors Program for our Armed Forces Service men and women who have been wounded. There are others who take their wagons, and sometimes just their Dutch ovens, to schools and provide school children with a living history demonstration. Many members get involved by participating in various museum functions, parades and cowboy days. Any way you choose to enhance the Spirit of the West will greatly improve the chances that the Western Heritage will live for many generations to come.
  If any of this strikes your fancy then look further into our American Chuck Wagon Association website and find information about our association, guidelines for conducting a cook off, helpful tips for competing, and resources for constructing and preserving a chuck wagon, restoring a vehicle, or enjoying our history.
  We are also proud of our efforts to promote youth cooking competitions and provide scholarships to help our youth in pursuit of higher education.
  Contact the ACWA and allow us to assist you in preserving the heritage of this uniquely American vehicle. Again, thank you for visiting the American Chuck Wagon Association website.
  Wayne Calk
  President
  American Chuck Wagon Association
  
  March 18, 2013

• The 2012 annual meeting was held in Amarillo, TX on Nov. 10, 2012 during the WRCA Championship Rodeo! It was great fun to see old friends and make new ones. New directors, Wayne Calk and Aubrey Lenamon were announced along with re-elected director Glenn Moreland. Sadly, we say goodbye to outgoing board member and past president, Lonnie Tegeler, and to our secretary, Kathy Christensen who has held that position as long as the by-laws allow. Also, president Bill Thompson announced he would not be running for re-election, but would remain on the board. Best wishes for a speedy return to better health, Bill!
  On that note, our newly elected president is Wayne Calk and the new secretary is Jim Patrick.